A Stitch in Time – Pitchfork

The “cover” (if you can call those things that show up in iTunes “covers”) of the brand new Twilight Singers EP, A Stitch in Time (available today only on iTunes) is an image of a really grimy sink. Listening to the five-track collection feels just as dirty.

Pairing main man Greg Dulli with recently-added full-on band member Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees/Queens of the Stone Age/Isobel Campbell), it’s a typically creepy affair, with everything sounding like it was recorded in a smoky bar with a dead body in the bathroom. Except for the song “Sublime”, co-written by Dulli and Joseph Arthur, and featuring Arthur on vocals. That dude couldn’t sound mysterious if he was dressed in a fedora and trenchcoat.

The EP leads off with a deliciously depraved cover of Massive Attack’s “Live With Me”, and also includes a cover of Fat Freddy’s Drop’s “Flashback”. Dulli’s Afghan Whigs bandmate Rick McCollum co-wrote the song “They Ride”. And “Sublime” totally jacks “Sexual Healing”. In a good way.

The Twilight Singers, with Lanegan in tow, launch a U.S. tour in two weeks. They head to Europe in November and December.